1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to sweetening agents, and particularly to the enhancement of the sweetness of acesulfame-K in edible compositions, such as sour chewing gum compositions.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
A variety of intense sweeteners have been traditionally used in edible compositions. The sweetness and sweetening power of these intense sweeteners vary considerably, depending upon the sweetener selected and the particular type of edible composition being formed. For example, saccharin, acesulfame-K and the cyclamates exhibit bitter taste notes, as opposed to aspartame, sucralose and alitame, which generally do not.
The sweetening power of traditionally employed intense sweeteners, as compared to sucrose, is as follows:
______________________________________ Saccharin 300X Acesulfame-K 200X Cyclamates 30X Aspartame 200X Sucralose 600X Alitame 2000X ______________________________________
In addition to the considerable differences in sweetening power, intense sweeteners exhibit a range of stabilities. For example, aspartame degrades in the presence of water, aldehydes, ketones of cinnamon flavor and heat.
Acesulfame-K is a known stable sweetener which has been conventionally employed in a variety of food products. However, a notable shortcoming of acesulfame-K as a sweetener in edible materials is its bitter taste.
Efforts have been made to negate the bitter taste of acesulfame-K. For example, European Patent Application No. 0,122,400A1, assigned to Takeda Chemical Industries, discloses the admixing of acesulfame-K with members selected from the group consisting of alanine, glycine, histidine, arginine, glutamate, glutamic acid and its sodium salt, sodium-5-inosinate, sodium-5-guanylate, tartaric acid and its salts, and disodium phosphate. This patent alleges to mitigate the bitter taste of acesulfame-K to impart an improved quality of sweetness.
Additionally, a number of prior patents have disclosed a synergistic action between two classes of sweetening agents, such as acesulfame-K with other sweeteners. In this regard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,170 provides synergized compositions containing a mixture of different sweetening agents, at least one of which is saccharine, stevioside, acesulfame-K or other bitter tasting sweetening agent, with at least one sweet chlorodeoxysugar sweetener selected from the group consisting of chlorodeoxysucrose and chlorodeoxygalactosucrose.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,068 discloses a sweetener mixture which is said to have an improved saccharose-like taste consisting of acetosulfame and at least one sweetener selected from the group consisting of aspartyl peptide esters, the sulfamate sweeteners, the sulfimide sweeteners and the dihydrochalcone sweeteners.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,396 discloses the combination of 6-methyl-1, 2, 3-oxathiazin-4(3H)-one-2, 2-dioxide (acesulfame) with 3-(L-aspartyl-D-alaninamido)-2,2,4,4-tetra-methylthietane which is said to mask the bitter notes of the oxathiazin and also provide a synergistic sweetness over a range of concentrations.
When acesulfame-K is used in products containing food acids, such as sour chewing gum compositions, the perceived sweetness and sourness intensities of the products are lower than would be expected at the same sucrose equivalent of saccharine. This sweetness antagonism of acesulfame-K in the presence of food acids presents an additional difficulty which has heretofore limited the use of acesulfame-K in edible compositions. One possible way to perceive more sweetness in acesulfame-K containing edible compositions would be to add additional acesulfame-K to compensate for the reduced sweetness and sourness intensities. However, this solution is impractical, as such would result in an enhanced bitter flavor of the edible product. An alternative approach is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application 61,268,154, which teaches the coating of acesulfame-K with dextrin, in order to prevent the instability of the acesulfame salts when contacted with organic acids.
Despite the above-mentioned efforts, it is generally agreed that intense sweeteners such as acesulfame-K exhibit unacceptable bitter notes, even when used in conjunction with other sweeteners, and further that sweeteners such as acesulfame-K when employed in the presence of food acids exhibit reduced sourness and sweetness sensations which are unacceptable.